Up to 100mm of rain could fall at Mount Panorama on weekend, potentially leading to flooding on the Macquarie River
Campers at the Bathurst 1000 are being warned away from trees and riverbanks as more than a dozen rivers across New South Wales are set to flood over the weekend.
It comes as Melbourne received half its average October rainfall in one hour on Friday, with some suburbs receiving as much as 30mm in 20 minutes.
The Victorian State Emergency Service received more than 600 calls for help in 24 hours on Friday, including 120 reports of building damage.
State Response Controller Tim Wiebusch said he was disappointed at least 15 people attempted to drive through flood waters.
“We know the single largest death or cause of death in flooding is people attempting to drive through flood waters,” he said. “Driving through flood waters could be the last decision you make.”
Widespread rainfall is expected to affect much of the east coast over the weekend, with moderate to heavy falls forecast for New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, while showers and thunderstorms are increasing over western Queensland.
A trough and cold front moved across NSW on Friday, bringing further widespread rain to the eastern half of the state including the western slopes and ranges, central NSW and the south coast.
Up to 100mm of rain could fall at Mount Panorama over the weekend, potentially leading to flooding along the Macquarie River in Bathurst.
Severe thunderstorms could also bring damaging winds to the region.
Free sandbags will be available in Bathurst while volunteers are checking in with residents and tourists camping near the Macquarie River.
Major flooding was already occurring in the Macquarie, Darling, Culgoa and Lachlan rivers by late Friday, according the Bureau of Meteorology.
“With the combination of locally falling rain and flood peaks moving downstream, extensive and significant riverine flooding is likely for many inland catchments,” the BoM said in a statement.
“Numerous flood warnings are in place and, with a wetter than usual spring and saturated soils, many dams are at capacity and catchments are very sensitive to rainfall.”
Flash flooding and swollen rivers were reported across Melbourne on Friday, as stormwater drains quickly overflowed across the city, leading to inundated streets. Minor flooding was seen at Merri Creek, the Yarra River below Dights Falls, Elster Creek and other parts of the city.
And engineers were attempting to drain a private dam in Melbourne’s north, near Craigieburn.
The Department of Transport’s Chris Miller, told 3AW that the SES and police were on the scene.
“The concern is that the bank will actually burst and obviously if that gives way, huge amounts of water will come out,” he said.
Mickleham road is unlikely to reopen for up to 2 days (closed between Destination Drive and Point Ridley Drive in Craigieburn / Yuroke) as engineers start the delicate race to drain the leaking dam before a 3.5m wall “fails catastrophically”. @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/j52TLGQ4V0
Two people were trapped in floodwaters on top of their car under an overpass in York St, South Melbourne, which claimed two vehicles before emergency services attended and blocked the road.
South Melbourne’s other bridge of doom claims two #melbourneweather pic.twitter.com/SUrKIwSVaT
Bit of vid of the riverine flooding on Merri Creek #melbweather #coburg #merricreek pic.twitter.com/5af54D0HYK
Showers were forecast for southern areas of Victoria on Saturday, and they are expected to ease on Sunday.
In Sydney, the heaviest rain was expected on Saturday, causing a high-risk day for the already saturated city with warnings of renewed river flooding to the city’s west months after record peaks were observed.
The SES has warned people near Penrith to stay informed about predicted river rises in the Nepean, Hawkesbury and their tributaries.
Conditions will ease briefly on Saturday morning before a low-pressure system forms along the coast in the afternoon, bringing renewed rain in the evening.
The worst of the weather should ease by Sunday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The SES in NSW received 365 calls for assistance in the 24 hours to Friday morning, including four for flood rescues. There were 57 active warnings in place across the state as at 4pm on Friday.
SES assistant commissioner Dean Storey said he expected those to increase as the heavy rainfall continued.
“We’re expecting a lot of people to be on the roads at the end of school holidays, in the coming days and the weekend as well. We’re really asking people to plan accordingly,” he said.
“Time and again we see the result of people making poor safety decisions and driving through flood waters … If you can stay off the roads, do so. If it’s flooded, forget it – turn around and find another way.”
Cotton town Warren, where waters have been above the major flood level since Monday, is subject to one of 14 watch-and-act flood alerts in NSW.
Renewed and prolonged flooding is continuing in inland NSW at the Namoi, Macquarie, Bogan, Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, Murray, Edward, Culgoa, Birrie, Bokhara, Warrego, Paroo, Barwon and Darling rivers.
Inland towns being monitored closely include Gunnedah, Narrabri, Tamworth, Dubbo and Forbes.
Emergency services have renewed warnings about driving into flooded causeways and other river crossings.
“It wasn’t very long ago we had a five-year-old boy … who was killed in a car that was washed off a bridge,” NSW police superintendent Bob Noble said, referring to an incident in Tullamore two weeks ago.
“You can imagine how devastating that is for that family. It’s a terribly hard way to learn a lesson for society.”
More than 90mm fell at Sydney’s Observatory Hill on Thursday, helping topple the city’s annual rainfall record set in 1950.
The bureau has warned livestock is at risk with temperatures set to plunge in the Illawarra, south coast, southern tablelands, south-west slopes, Snowy Mountains and ACT regions.
Severe thunderstorms were expected spread to the southern interior of Queensland on Saturday, accompanied by heavy rainfall, with showers and thunderstorms extending across the east and south-east of the state on Sunday.
Minor flooding was expected to continue in southern and south-west Queensland, with minor flood warnings issued for the Barcoo River and Cooper Creek, Bokhara River, Bulloo River, Macintyre River, Paroo River.

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